Animal Farm: Rebellion
"Your resolution must never falter. No argument must lead you astray. "
Old Major's speech echoed through the empty wasteland that was once Animal Farm. The fog tried desperately to hide the fact that blood was everywhere. Mangled bodies of hens, geese and a few sheep were scattered in the mist. The sun seemed as though it would not rise today. The old barn creaked and it seemed the noise droned on forever. Underneath the willow tree, there were more than a hundred fresh mounds of dirt. All was quiet on the farm. Not one animal seemed to stir. In the mist, they were waiting for their attack. They held their positions quietly, knowing that most of them were to die in this battle. They were a few in numbers, but ready to die for the freedom they had heard about in the old tales. Half their number was slaughtered the previous day because June, the heir to the farm, found out about the secret meetings they held in the back of the barn. Some just got away lucky, while others ran away wounded.
"Steady, now. We have to save our strength. I don't know how many guns they have in that house." He said, eyeing his comrades up at each of his sides.
"But how are we ever going to defeat the pigs, Tarquin?" said a duck at his side.
"Give them hoof and horn! Do not back down! Never say never! That, comrades, is the ticket to our success." He whispered, and then winked at the few mares giggling down the line. He was proud to be the black mustang he was, with the white star on his forehead. He was as strong as the legendary Boxer, who surprisingly happened to be his father.
The fiery-orange sun began to creep over the edge of the horizon and the animals could see now that five or six dogs were stationed as sentry, but were all curled up and sleeping at the door.
The ducks took out their hollow reeds and shot each dog with a twig poisoned with nightshade, and many other plants. A few if the dogs whimpered before going into a deep coma. Then the animals waited from the signal of Agatha, the granddaughter of Moses, saying that all pigs were sound asleep in their beds. She dove off the windowsill and tumbled a few times before going to her post. She looked down with pride of her fellow comrades, for they now were soaking the house with gasoline and whisky from the storage spaces. She then turned to look inside and noticed that one pig was gone. She dove down and tried to alert the others quietly that way they could all escape, but they were already opening the door to the house. She hid her head in her wing for she knew what was about to happen.
Mouser, the grey tabby cat, slowly opened the door of the house and crept inside making sure the coast was clear. She swished her tail and the animals began filing in one at a time. They were about to pour gas on the floor when a light from a single match entered the room. Then an all-too familiar voice said melodically "Well, well, well. What have we here?" The flame then went to a candle and the pudgy face of June appeared in the light. "I…wasn't expecting company so early in the morning. Am I to believe you wanted to play a game?" she gave an evil laugh. All the animals started to back up towards the door slowly, and she called out in a sarcastic tone "What's the matter? Do I…..FRIGHTEN you?" She got up from the pink armchair she was sitting in and began walking towards them, the light from outside showing her purple dress and brown cowboy boots and the loaded shotgun in her hand. She cocked the gun and an empty shell hit the floor. "Run!" she taunted. The animals took off as June shot a goose down. "UP AND AT 'EM BOYS! We got ourselves a cat-and-mouse chase."
Ten big, strong dogs came out of the shadows, all foaming at the mouth, and a dozen or more pigs fully dressed behind them. The pigs grinned maliciously and all cocked their guns.
"Come and get it." She muttered. "CHARGE!" The pigs and dogs went flying after the animals, shooting their guns and causing chaos among the animals sleeping in the barn. Tarquin ran past the old apple tree and yelled "Now Cathy!" and twenty or more pigeons spilled buckets upon buckets of apples, rotten and new alike, on the heads of their adversaries.
Life on the farm had only gotten worse, Old Benjamin had said once to the animals. All the elders had died, and he never let go his old slogan "You've never seen a donkey die". June had put a stop to that. She took out her shotgun and shot him on his birthday in front of the barn. Old Benjamin told the tales of Old Major for bedtime stories and had everyone mesmerized. Midnight the cat especially loved Benjamin's stories. Ever since he was a little kitten, he would stay up late and listen to them all night long.
June did not see the black kitten slinking around the corner when she shot Benjamin. She did not hear the cat gasp in fright. Moreover, she most certainly did not see the cat follow her when they took the body out to the woods where Pilkington's farm had been.
That was why Midnight was leading the attack alongside Tarquin and Agatha. The fight was raging on now for two hours and both sides were badly injured, but no side was ready to give up. Midnight was perched on top of the roof and he saw June aiming her shotgun at the blind side of Tarquin. He figured it was high time she paid for Benjamin's death. He leapt down from the roof and onto June's head, causing her to shoot her fat cousin Porky who was strangling a goose to death.
June cursed and struggled to get the claws of the cat out of her hide.
In the meantime, Tarquin was crushing the skulls of the dogs with his great hooves and badly injuring some of the pigs. He himself had deep gashes in his sides from the dogs and a couple gunshot wounds in his fore-flank. His eyes were red with vengeance on the animals that had so cruelly treated them. More than half his number was dead, and the pigs were overpowering them badly. If they could not get rid of the guns, then they all were doomed.
Agatha held her attack from the air. She led crows, pigeons and ravens alike to peck at the pigs' heads. Some of the birds were smart enough to blind them to where they ran screaming with blood running from their eyes. Some of them ran right into the lake and drowned, while others just ran like madmen. She was proud of her comrades.
Four hours later the battle was over. They lost. Only a few animals of the rebellion survived. The ones who were not condemned hid in the barns during the fight. Agatha, Tarquin and Midnight, as well as a few chickens, geese and other horses, all stood heads high waiting for their punishment in front of the animals. The sun was setting and June walked in front of them, waving her whip in every direction. "This is what you get when you rebel. You see, you animals cannot defeat us. We pigs are of higher intellect and cunning for you to out smart us. We will defeat you if you rebel and your automatic punishment will be death. It will not be quick and painless. It will be long, and slow, and very painful." She said slowly dragging out the words. "Disobey us and you will die. And always know this: I will be watching you always." With that, she let the dogs tear the throats out of the smaller animals, except for the leaders of the rebellion.
"If you betray us, you will die like these three animals. Agatha the crow"
"I'm a raven."
"Whatever. Agatha the raven, Tarquin the mustang and Midnight the cat. You are all sentenced to death."
Having said that, she took Agatha, who could not fly away because of the rope tying her to a log, and doused her with kerosene. She then lit the raven aflame and the smell of burning feathers and flesh, and the screams were all the animals could bear, yet they were forced to watch upon this horrible act for the pigs were behind them with shotguns awaiting for any animal to move. When Agatha was sure and dead, she took the cat and threw him down the well. Satisfied with that, she turned now to Tarquin and said "Any last words?"
"I hope you die, you horrible old beast! Long live Animal Farm!"
After saying that, he was shot in the head by June herself. June wiped the blood off of her face and turned to the rest of the animals.
"Obey us and you live. Obey us and you will be fed. Life before the rebellion was a lot worse than this. You are living the easy life. Now back to your stalls. I'm sick of seeing you all."
The farm was silent in the night. By the light of the moon, you could faintly read the faded white lettering on the side of the barn:
ALL ANIMALS ARE GOOD, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
A small grey kitten walked up to the side of the barn. In the corner, behind all the weeds was a message in white paint, slightly faded, but the message was clear. It ran:
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time.
Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown,
And the fruitful fields of England
Shall be trod by beasts alone.
Rings shall vanish from our noses,
And the harness from our back,
Bit and spur shall rust forever,
Cruel whips no more shall crack.
Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans, and mangel-wurzels
Shall be ours upon that day.
Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer shall its waters be,
Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.
For that day we all must labor,
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom's sake.
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time.
The kitten chanted this to herself for a moment and silently went off to her patch of hay. She knew that someday the rebellion would come through, and she knew that they would try again when ready. Nevertheless, she would follow orders and chant this song while working. Maybe somewhere in the world there was a rebellion already though and the animals were free from the whip and chain. Just maybe. She would keep dreaming for now.
The soft winds blew the tall grass, the barley and the hay. The chant of the kitten carried in the night. Everyone knew blood was splattered on the ground from the massacre that day. New mounds of dirt were under the maple tree and the corpses of the rebels still lay out in the open. The crickets chirped and not an animal stirred in their stall. All was quiet on the farm. Life would go on as usual the next morning. Nothing would change that fact. Ever.